For the second time this season, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yang Hyeon-jong of the Texas Rangers made a start on the same day. And for the second time, neither of them notched a victory. In fact, both South Korean left-handers suffered their third consecutive loss. Kim gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sunday (local time). The Cardinals spotted him a 2-0 lead after two, but Kim couldn't keep his team

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases remained in the 400s for the second consecutive day Monday partly due to fewer tests over the weekend, while health authorities are grappling with sporadic cluster infections across the nation. The country reported 430 more COVID-19 cases, including 411 local infections, raising the total caseload to 140,340, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily caseload was down from 480 on Sunday, when the figure fell below 500 for t

Unable to make an early lead stand against the worst club in the National League, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals has now lost three consecutive starts. Kim was saddled with the loss as the Cardinals fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2 at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sunday (local time). Kim allowed four runs on a season-worst nine hits. He struck out one and walked one, as he dropped to 1-3 for the year and saw his ERA rise from 3.09 to 3.65. Kim's only victory of the year came on Apr

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday amid investor concerns of early post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.92 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,182.81 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a weak start as accelerating inflation may sap demand for risky assets. The US personal consumption expenditures index picked up 0.6 percent in April, marking the fastest on-year jump since 2008. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electron

Another start, another short day on the mound for Yang Hyeon-jong. The Texas Rangers' South Korean starter lasted only three innings in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Sunday (local time). The left-hander allowed three runs -- one unearned -- on five hits and a walk, as he dropped to 0-3 for the year. His ERA went up from 5.47 to 5.53. Yang struck out two and needed a whopping 70 pitches -- 49 strikes -- to retire nine batters, including 26 in the opening inni

South Korea's industrial output declined the most in 11 months in April as production in the chipmaking industry slumped due largely to a higher base effect, data showed Monday. But the country's service output and retail sales extended their gains last month as warm weather and eased social distancing rules spurred consumer spending. The industrial output decreased 1.1 percent in April from the previous month, a turnaround from a 0.9 percent on-month increase in March, according to the data c

South Korea and Denmark agreed Sunday to elevate their ties to a "comprehensive green strategic partnership" as part of efforts to further deepen cooperation on the climate and environment. The accord was reached during virtual summit talks between President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen held just before the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit opens. It marks South Korea's first bilateral green partnership with a foreign country. The two sides commemorate the 10th anniversary

A US Forces Korea service member is under investigation for allegedly assaulting three South Korean men while under the influence, police said Sunday. The 34-year-old staff sergeant, stationed with the Eighth Army in Pyeongtaek, was apprehended by police in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon late Saturday and transferred to the military police. The unnamed soldier is accused of first punching a 20-something man in the face on Itaewon's streets and then knocking a 40-something man from

South Korea will receive the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine for 1 million people from the United States this week following Washington's pledge to donate vaccines for Korean troops, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Sunday. It is nearly double the volume that US President Joe Biden vowed to provide, during a meeting with President Moon Jae-in earlier this month, to fully inoculate all 550,000 South Korean service members. "Our military aircraft will bring the vaccine home

Around 2,000 foreigners, including US soldiers in South Korea, set off firecrackers and held parties without wearing masks on and around a local beach amid the coronavirus pandemic, police said Sunday. The foreigners danced, drank and set off firecrackers on and around Haeundae Beach in the southern city of Busan from Saturday afternoon through early Sunday, with many of them not wearing face masks and violating social distancing rules, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency and wi

South Koreans' overseas card spending dropped 28.8 percent on-year in the first quarter, due to a sharp decline in the number of outbound travelers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Sunday. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, totaled $2.56 billion in the January-March period, compared with $3.59 billion for the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Compared with three months ea

The portion of single-member households in South Korea surpassed 30 percent of the total last year, a government survey showed Sunday, amid an increase in diverse forms of families. One-person families accounted for 30.4 percent of the total in 2020, according to a survey conducted on 11,000 households by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family every five years. The percentage was 21.3 percent in 2015 and 15.8 percent in 2010. At the same time, the proportion of households composed of pare

Members of North Korea's umbrella trade union held an oath-taking ceremony and vowed to stamp out anti-socialist practices, state media said Sunday. The meeting took place in Pyongyang on Saturday by participants in the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea's 8th plenary session held earlier in the North Korean capital, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It was the union's first plenary session in about five years. The participants "vowed to become resolu

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back to the 400s on Sunday for the first time in 20 days amid continued cluster infections and growing fears over the spread of more virulent variants. The country reported 480 more COVID-19 cases, including 464 local infections, raising the total caseload to 139,910, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marks the first time that the new caseload fell below 500 since May 10 when 463 cases were reported. The drop is belie

Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu was questioned by police Sunday over allegations that he pressured a taxi driver he assaulted to destroy related evidence and went unpunished. Lee appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in central Seoul to undergo questioning for the November case where Lee allegedly hurled insults at the driver and grabbed him by the collar in an intoxicated state when the man tried to wake him up after arriving at his home. Police were called to the scene and let L

A growing number of South Koreans support replacing the current military draft with a volunteer system, a survey showed Sunday. According to the Gallup Korea poll, 43 percent of respondents were in favor of switching to the volunteer military system, while 42 percent were in favor of maintaining the status quo. The remaining 15 percent declined to answer. The law requires all able-bodied South Korean men to serve about two years in the military. Women are exempted from mandatory service and al

A major global summit on climate and sustainable growth is scheduled to open on Sunday under the initiative of South Korea. President Moon Jae-in will host the two-day 2021 P4G Seoul Summit via video links, joined by more than 60 other top government officials and heads of international organizations, according to his office. They include British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and John Ke

While many other clubs sent out their foreign aces to begin the new Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season last month, the Hanwha Eagles gave the symbolic Opening Day assignment to homegrown right-hander Kim Min-woo. It was a surprising choice, given that the Eagles' new American lefty, Ryan Carpenter, appeared to have earned that opportunity with an excellent preseason. In 2020, Kim flashed promise that made him the No. 1 overall pick at the 2014 draft, but finished with a pedestrian 5-10 re

North Korea appears to be continuing activities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex but no clear evidence has been detected to determine if spent fuel rods have been transferred from the storage facility to produce plutonium, a US think tank has said. The monitoring website 38 North made the assessment Friday, based on recent satellite imagery, also noting that minor activities have been spotted at the site's uranium enrichment plant while construction of a new wing of a lab building continued. &

South Korean President Moon Jae-in publicly thanked US President Joe Biden on Saturday for his note on their White House summit last week. Moon shared Biden's related Twitter message on his Facebook account and also retweeted it. Moon attached a message reading "Mr. President Biden, Thank you." Hours earlier, Biden tweeted, "I was honored to welcome President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea last week at the White House." "The alliance between our nations was forg